Tokyo Rose

[A2C]

http://www.ww2incolor.com/japan/tokoyo+ ... +shot.html

[ArtS]

OK, I'll bite; why on earth did she move back to the states after the war?

Regards,

Art S.

[aseanaero]

OK, I'll bite; why on earth did she move back to the states after the war?

She was probably even less popular in Japan !

[John Dupre]

I don't know Sugamo's story and I believe there were several "Tokyo Roses" though she was the best known. I have heard of numerous Japanese Americans who caught in Japan on the outbreak of war were basically forced to work for the Japanese government just to eat. In particular a young man from California who spent the war in Manchuria in the Japanese Army where he was roundly despised for his American connection.

[muddyboots]

On July 5, 1941, Toguri sailed for Japan from Los Angeles' San Pedro area, to visit an ailing relative and to possibly study medicine. The U.S. State Department issued her a Certificate of Identification; she did not have a passport. In September, Toguri applied to the U.S. Vice Consul in Japan for a passport, stating she wished to return to her home in the U.S. Her request was forwarded to the State Department, but the answer had not returned by the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941) and she was stranded in Japan.

With the beginning of American involvement in the Pacific War, Toguri, like a number of other Americans in Japanese territory, was pressured by the Japanese central government under Hideki Tojo to renounce her United States citizenship. She refused to do so. Toguri was subsequently declared an enemy alien and was refused a war ration card.[1] "A tiger does not change its stripes" is a quote attributed to her.[1] To support herself, she found work as a typist at a Japanese news agency and eventually worked in a similar capacity for Radio Tokyo.

In November 1943, Allied prisoners of war forced to broadcast propaganda selected her to host portions of the one-hour radio show The Zero Hour. Her producer was an Australian Army officer, Major Charles Cousens, who had pre-war broadcast experience and had been captured at the fall of Singapore. Cousens had been tortured and coerced to work on radio broadcasts,[1] as had his assistants, U.S. Army Captain Wallace Ince and a Philippine Army Lieutenant, Normando Ildefonso "Norman" Reyes. Toguri had previously risked her life smuggling food into the nearby Prisoner of War (POW) camp where Cousens and Ince were held, gaining the inmates' trust.[1] After she indicated her refusal to broadcast anti-American propaganda, Toguri was assured by Major Cousens and Captain Ince that they would not write scripts having her say anything against the United States.[1] Toguri would then host a total of 340 broadcasts of The Zero Hour.[1]

Under the stage names "Ann" (for "Announcer") and later "Orphan Anne"[1] and possibly "Your Favorite Enemy, Anne", reportedly in reference to the comic strip character Little Orphan Annie, Toguri performed in comedy sketches and introduced recorded music, but never participated in any actual newscasts, with on-air speaking time of generally about 20 minutes. True to the word of the two prisoners of war that Toguri worked under, no anti-Allies propaganda was found in her broadcasts.[1] Though earning only 150 yen, or about $7, per month, she used some of her earnings to feed POWs[2] smuggling food in as she did before.

Toguri aimed most of her comments toward her fellow Americans ("my fellow orphans"), using American slang and playing American music. In one of the few surviving recordings of her show, she refers to herself as "your 'Number One' enemy." In contemporary American slang (especially that used by US Marines and Naval forces in the Pacific), she was telling them that she was their "best enemy" (in other words, their friend), while the Japanese thought that it meant that she was their greatest enemy.

At no time did Toguri call herself "Tokyo Rose" during the war, and in fact there was no evidence that any other broadcaster had done so. The name was a catch-all used by Allied forces for all of the women who were heard on Japanese propaganda radio.

[John Dupre]

Thanks for that Muddy Boots. Very interesting.

[JDK]

Thanks for that Muddy Boots. Very interesting.

Seconded. A great example of why real history's a lot more interesting than flap-wrapped simplistic 'patriots' get. Imaging being in her shoes (or the others involved in the broadcasts) what would you do? For instance, on the other side of the 'what most of us would do', that's why I admire McCain for his guts and principles in Vietnam.

Muddy - what's the source?

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks for that Muddy Boots, a very interesting story. I had no idea that the propaganda radio broadcast by the Japanese was run by prisoners.

You can download some Tokyo Rose broadcasts online.
Go here:

http://www.archive.org/details/TokyoRose

and
http://www.archive.org/details/BroadcastRadioTokyo

[the330thbg]

OK, I'll bite; why on earth did she move back to the states after the war?

She was probably even less popular in Japan !

Right., like the 'Minister of Information' in Iraq.., WTF ever happened to him?

[fotobass]

Interestingly, Toguri, while having trouble getting back to the US, was not under major scrutiny until Walter Winchell started a major radio assault on her, creating public pressure to try her for her 'crimes', and according to the documentary I saw, used baseless, infounded or flatout non-existent 'facts' to stir up public sentiment.

I've often thought of Toguri's story as mirroring the internment of Japanese Americans back home...had she been an American-looking woman forced into the same circumstances, I'd imagine she'd have faded into the background of history.

[muddyboots]

Sorry you guys, I forgot attibution. That was from Wikipedia.

[RickH]

Thanks for posting, Muddy. I had seen a documentary on her but had never seen it in print. THIS, is what WIX is all about !!

[Sully]

and for those who do not care for Wiki...

http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famc ... e/rose.htm

Sully

[Bluedharma]

Thanks Muddy Boots, great stuff!
Best Regards,